Infused Vodka

Gifts from the kitchen are the most heartfelt of holiday expressions. Bakers and their acolytes already know that the winter holidays are the high point for their art form. Every Western culture has its holiday specialties, but the baked goods that come out of the holiday are spectacular in reflection of celebrations religious and secular: from sparkly sugar cookies to cinnamon stars to Amaretto horns, from fruitcake to stollen to mincemeat, from plum pudding to gingerbread to pomanders. In our urban kitchen, the holiday specialties include fruitcake biscotti, cranberry tea bread and cloud-like puffs of divinity. Home canners have been prepared since harvest with jars of jam and jelly, pickles and relish, even cranberry sauce. These will enliven many meals both now and in the new year, as will a jar of homemade spice mix.

Handmade gifts of other kinds find their way into stockings and under trees. One reader shares that she knits a scarf a day during snowfall, and it's difficult to argue with that as a to-do list. Those handy with a needle are prepping embroidery and applique, and those handy with a glue stick are making holiday cards and memory pages. Last summer's lesson on homemade bath salts pays off now, as we scoop infusions inspired by California living into pretty stoppered jars for giving.

And then there are the barkeeps. At last autumn's county fair, I was reminded how important brewing and wine-making are not just to commerce but to homestead, as blue ribbons adorned the best from a crowded field of entries for home-made beer and wine. Though, in early times, wine and beer were available for purchase or trade, it was very common for households and inns to make their own. More established businesses -- especially importer/exporters and, amusingly, monasteries -- often distilled and bottled house specialty liquors, and that is the etymology of great sips from Campari to Cointreau, whiskey to whisky, Jaegermeister to Absinthe. But a jug of beer or a bottle of wine, rendered from the harvests of grains and of fruit, was a special, heartfelt and, one extrapolates, very welcome expression of holiday giving.

If you are lucky enough to know any contemporary brewers and vintners, you may be lucky enough to receive a holiday gift of their efforts. Likewise do the adventurous preserve their own cherries for Manhattans – even make the bitters. These are great ideas if you want to give gifts from and for the urban bar, but it is easy to make and bottle infused vodka both for your own urban bar and for holiday giving. If you start now, the vodka will be ready in time for holiday parties, and for mixing from your own bar. Here is Urban Home Blog's foolproof method and recipes for infused vodka.

Infused Vodka

Do not skip the step of purifying the vodka -- it is the key to preparing the vodka to absorb the flavoring agents. A good water filtration pitcher is a necessity for your urban kitchen; they are widely available and inexpensive. Store all of your infusing supplies together in a plastic tub with a tight-fitting lid.

Supplies

1 large clean water-filtration pitcher, fitted with a clean filter

Large funnel

Wire mesh strainer

Cheesecloth

Clean 16 ounce glass bottles, such as these hermetic-seal bottles with stoppers

Quart and pint canning jars with clean lids and rims

Clean large plastic spoon

Food-safe labels

Thin laundry marker

Pen

Ingredients per infusion

1 liter pure grain vodka, such as Absolut, Smirnoff or Svedka

Infusing ingredients per recipes below

Basic Technique

1. Clean and prepare the water filtration pitcher per the included instructions, including preparing and fitting the filter. Note: if you are using a new filter, it is essential to filter and discard a pitcher of water first, as noted in the included instructed.
2. For each infusion, clean a quart- sized canning jar, a rim, and a lid. Place the jar/s upside down on a clean drying rack to dry.
3. Place a layer of paper towels on the working surface. Place the pitcher on the paper towels.
4. Open the bottle/s of vodka and slowly pour the vodka into the pitcher. Allow the vodka to drain through the filter. You will be able to filter up to two liters at a time.
5. Once the quart jar/s are dry, place the infusing ingredients in the jar/s, following special instructions if any in the recipes below.
6. Fit the mouth of each quart jar that has been prepared with infusing agents with the funnel.
7. Slowly pour the filtered vodka into each quart jar that has been prepared with infusing agents. For some infusions, it will be helpful to use a clean plastic spoon to gently stir the infusing agents as you pour the vodka. Stop pouring when the vodka reaches within ½” of the rim of the jar.
8. Wipe the rim of the jar. Fit the rim of the jar with the lid. Screw the band onto the rim of the jar just until it is tight-fitting.
9. Use the water-proof laundry marker to write the name of the infusion and the date made on the lid of the jar. Time the decanting step based on the date written on the lid.
10. Once you have filtered all of the vodka you are going to, discard the filter. Clean and store the filtration pitcher or refit it with a fresh filter for drinking water, following the included instructions.
11. Once the correct amount of time has passed, check each jar of infused vodka for evidence of contaminants, such as visible mold or mildew or cloudy gray or black discolorations. Discard contaminated vodka if any.
12. For each infusion, clean two 16-ounce stoppered bottles. Safely position the bottles upside down on a clean drying rack to dry.
13. Fit the mouth of each clean, dry stoppered bottle with the funnel. For some infusions, it will be helpful to fit the funnel with a double layer of cheesecloth.
14. Use one hand to steady the funnel as you use the other hand to slowly pour half of the infused vodka into each stoppered bottle. Stop pouring when the vodka reaches within ½” of the rim of the bottle.
15. Wipe the rim of each bottle.
16. Affix a sticker to each bottle. Write the name of the infusion and the date made on the label.
17. Discard the infusing solids. Clean the quart jars and store/reuse them as warranted.

Yields

• 1 liter of filtered vodka will equal slightly more than one quart jar. Some exceptions are noted in the recipes below. Use additional vodka to make additional infusions, or decant it into a stoppered glass bottle and place it at the home bar.
• 1 quart jar of infused vodka will equal two 16-ounce bottles once decanted.
• Two of the recipes below are small-batch, and will make two 4 – to 6- ounce bottles each. Two of the recipes can be doubled, and will make four 16-ounce bottles.

Recipes

Apple or Pear

Make: Peel and core four medium apples or pears. Slice the peeled, cored fruit into small chunks.

Infuse: Minimum 2 weeks, maximum 4 weeks

Use in: Martini, Rickey, Toddy

Notes: Use six apples or pears divided between two quart jars to make a double batch. Infuse double batch 3 weeks minimum.

Cedar

Make: Break 2 clean, unused cedar baking papers into long pieces. Add 1 teaspoon juniper berries.

Infuse: Minimum 1 week, maximum 2 weeks

Use in: Rocks, tonic, Toddy, iced shot

Notes: Shake the infusion every other day. Must strain through cheesecloth.

Cucumber

Make: Peel two large cucumbers so that no green peel remains on either cucumber. Safely use a sharp paring knife or a mandoline to slice the cucumber into thin slices. Transfer the slices, pulp, and accumulated juices if any to the quart jar.

Infuse: 3 weeks, refrigerated

Use in: Sake Martini, iced shot

Notes: Shake the infusion every other day. Must strain through cheesecloth.

Cranberry

Make: Measure 1 cup fresh cranberries into a clean bowl. Pick through the berries and discard imperfect berries and leaves if any. Fill the bowl with cold water and swirl the berries in the water. Drain the berries in a colander. Shake the colander to express as much water as possible. Sprinkle the berries with 2 tablespoons superfine sugar. Shake the berries to coat them with the sugar, allowing excess to drip through the colander. Gently transfer the berries into the quart jar.

Infuse: 2 weeks, refrigerated

Use in: Cosmopolitan, Rickey

Notes: Use 2 cups berries and 3 tablespoons superfine sugar divided between two quart jars to make a double batch. Infuse double batch 3 weeks minimum, refrigerated. Shake the infusion every other day. Must strain through cheesecloth.

Jalapeño

Make: Put on a pair of food safe plastic or latex gloves. Wash 1 pint fresh jalapeños. Safely use a sharp paring knife to remove and discard the caps from the jalapeños. Slice the jalapeños in half lengthways, and place the halved jalapeños into the jar.

Infuse: 2 weeks for strong, 3 weeks for lethal

Use in: Bloody Mary, iced shot

Notes: Shake the infusion every other day. Wear food safe plastic or latex gloves when decanting.

Kümmel

Make: Measure 1 tablespoon each caraway seed, fennel seed, mustard seed, dill seed, and coriander and ½ tablespoon each juniper berries, cloves, and superfine sugar into the jar. Add 2 star anise and 1 dried bay leaf.

Infuse: 3 weeks

Use in: Rocks, Rickey, tonic, iced shot, cooking

Notes: Shake the infusion every other day. Must strain through cheesecloth.

Lemon-lime

Make: Place a drop of fruit and vegetable cleaner in your palm and rub two medium lemons and two small limes with the cleanser. Rinse the cleaned lemons and limes under cool water. Safely use a sharp paring knife to remove and discard the hard brown or black cap from each fruit. Safely use the knife to cut each fruit into sections. Transfer the sections into a blender and chop roughly to form a pulp, approximately 45 seconds. Use a silicon spatula to transfer the pulp along with any accumulated juices from the cutting board to the quart jar.

Infuse: 2 weeks minimum, 3 weeks maximum, refrigerated.

Use in: Rocks, Gimlet, Martini, tonic

Notes: Shake the infusion every other day. Must be strained through cheesecloth.

Saffron

Make: Fill a half-pint jar with filtered vodka. Add one tablespoon saffron threads.

Infuse: 1 – 2 weeks, until saturated with fragrance and golden color

Use in: Martini, Moscow Mule

Notes: Shake every day. No need to strain; the saffron should dissipate into the vodka, leaving no solids behind.

Vanilla Extract

Make: Fill a half-pint jar with filtered vodka. Lay one vanilla bean on a clean cutting board. Safely use the point of a sharp paring knife to slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. It will express countless tiny seeds onto the cutting board and the knife blade. Use the knife to gently transfer the split bean into the vodka. Try to get as many of the seeds from the board into the vodka. Once you have completed these steps, stir the knife blade into the vodka to express the last of the seeds into the vodka.
Infuse: 1 – 2 weeks, until saturated with fragrance

Use in: Baking

Notes: Must be strained through cheesecloth.